Wound treating material



Fatented Jan. 2 1934 *2 UNITED STA-T PATENT OFFiCE;

No Drawing. Application November 29, 1930, Serial No. 499,128,. and in Germany December For'many years medicine has searched for an indifierent, universally easily usable, solvent for iodine. It has now been found that silk, in particular tussah silk is able to take up large quan- 51 tities of iodine if iodine is caused to act on it in a suitable manner.

It has been found particularly advantageous to treat the silk with a water containing alcoholic solution of iodine, the solvent power of which 101 can be increased in some cases by the addition of certain quantities of oxygen free alkaline iodides, i. e. iodides of alkali or alkaline earth metals.

If for instance tussah silk, which as is known is much stronger and more resistent than mulberry silk, is treated for 12-24 hours with an iodine solution prepared as follows:

750 c. 0. alcohol (calculated as absolute alcohol) 250 c. 0. water are saturated with about 40 to 50 gms. of iodine-an iodine containing silk is obtained of which every gram of iodized silk contains about 0.05 gms. of iodine titratable with thiosulphate.

A silk loaded with such quantities of iodine remains sterile even when not stored in completely sterile conditions, in contradistinction to muslin bandages, wound stitching materials such as catgut, and the like, which are often described as sterile.

Naturally both silk filaments and threads as well as silk fabrics for covering an entire wound surface can be treated by the process according to the invention.

In many cases it is desired not only to obtain a material suitable for treatment of wounds and remaining sterile for long periods, but also a material which yields up iodine to the wound itself or in its neighbourhood in order to prevent as far as possible any infection of the Wound.

According to the invention a further loading or incorporation of iodine in the silk, in particular tussah silk, is obtained if for example the silk is treated for about 12 to 24 hours in a bath made as follows:-

750 c. c. of alcohol (calculated as absolute alcohol)+250 c. c. of water+20 gms. of potassium iodide are saturated with about 80 gms. of iodine. The silk soaked in the bath and after removal, whatever iodizing solution may have been used,

freed as far as possible from adherent liquid by shaking, draining and the like and then gradually dried in the air, contains up to 0.12 gms. of iodine which can be titrated with thiosulphate, per gm. of iodized silk, which has shown itself fully adequate to effect not only lasting sterilization of 8 Claims. (01. 167 s4) bandages and the like, but also to kill any exciter of suppuration in the surroundings of the wound.

It should be particularly mentioned that the silk treated with iodine contains not only iodine which can be titrated with thiosulphate, but has also combined with considerable quantities of iodine which can no longer be titrated with thiosulphate. With sufilciently long treatment a proportion of iodine titratable with thiosulphate to iodine not titratable with thiosulphate of 1:1 can a; be reached, so that the iodized silk can contain up to 0.12 gms. of iodine titratable with thiosulphate and the same quantity of iodine not titratable with thiosulphate, reckoned per gm. of iodized silk; in other words the latter can without 10 difficulty contain up to about 25% of its weight of iodine.

The quantity of potassium iodide used in the given aqueous, alcoholic, iodine, potassium iodide solution and therefore the quantity in the impregnated silk is so small, that no harmful effects of the potassium iodide can occur, in contradistinction to other iodine preparations in which potassium iodide is used as a solvent agent.

Thus as is known, the Tictura Iodi of the German Arznei-Buches 6 has 33.4 gms. of potassium iodide+73 gms. of iodine dissolved in 900 cc. of alcohol (calculated as absolute alcohol) +100 0. c. of Water.

In general it is indeed not even necessary to enrich the silk fabric with iodine up to 0.12 gms. of titratable iodine per gm. of iodized silk.

For sterilization and maintenance of sterility, as well as for sufiicient yield of iodine to a wound or its surroundings, a 12-24 hours treatment in a solution made up as follows, and which gives an iodized silk with 0.1 gm. of iodine titratable with thiosulphate per gm. of iodized silk, is sufficient.

750 c. 0. alcohol (calculated as absolute alcohol) +250 0. c. water+10 gms. potassium iodide are saturated with about '70 gms. of iodine.

The water content of the iodine, or iodinepotassium iodide, solution is of importance because the water apparently has a certain swelling effect on the silk which facilitates the loading thereof with iodine.

Since the silk loaded with iodine by the process according to the invention only gradually yields up its iodine, a lasting treatment of the affected regions with iodine is obtained.

It should be particularly pointed out that with the use of the aqueous, alcoholic solutions for treating the silk, the wetting of the material is very good, shrinking of the material is entirely avoided, it drying uniformly on the contrary; and a considerable absorption of iodine takes place without the use of undesirable quantities of potassium iodide or the like.

The tussah or wild silk also hasthe advantage over mulberry silk in the present process owing to its cheapness.

What I claim is:

1. A process for preparing wound treating silk which consists in submitting silk to an aqueous alcoholic solution of iodine.

2. A process for preparing wound treating silk which consists in submitting silk to an'aqueous, alcoholic, iodine, alkaline iodide solution, the weight of alkaline iodide being less than that of iodine.

3. A process for preparing wound treating silk which consists in submitting silk to an alcoholic iodine solution containing from 10 to about of water.

4. A process for preparing wound treating silk which consists in submitting silk to an alcoholic, iodine, alkaline iodide solution containing from 10 to about 25% of water, the weight of alkaline iodide being less than that of iodine.

5. A process for preparing wound treating silk which consists in treating silk with solution made up in the following proportions:750 c. c. alcohol (calculated as absolute alcohol) +250 0. c. of water-f--50 gms. of iodine.

6. A process for preparing wound treating silk which consists in treating silk with solution made up in the following proportions:-750 c. c. alcohol (calculated as absolute alcohol) +250 0. c. of water+up to about 20 gms. of potassium iodide+up to about 80 gms. of iodine.

7. A process for preparing wound treating materials such as bandages and stitching materials containing silk which consists in submitting the silk to the action of an aqueous alcoholic solution of iodine.

8. A wound treating material including as a constituent, silk filaments containing titratable with thiosulphate forming 5-12% of such filaments.

KARL ANDREAS HOFMAN'N.

iodine 

